


Love from Beyond the Stars

by darkspacelord (orphan_account)



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Comedy, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Lovers, Frenemies Dib & Zim (Invader Zim), Humor, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nobody is Dead, just imagine if jhonen suddenly started shipping zadr and thats basically anything i've ever written, slight AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:55:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27497545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/darkspacelord
Summary: The swollen eyeball network are starting to question Dib's involvement with him and in order to prove his worth he must capture an alien. And it just so happens a certain invader (an actual invader this time) has landed on earth, to conquer all of earth. Dib determinedly tries to capture him, Zim tries to stop him from interfering with his plans, but what happens when a bigger threat enters forcing them to work together?
Relationships: Dib & Zim (Invader Zim), Dib/Zim (Invader Zim)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 45





	1. Prologue

Something was out there and Dib was going to prove it no matter how many times people called him ‘crazy’. 

Dib sat at his desk, hunched over and facing the one light in the room, the computer monitor. He slid on his headphones and waited as he connected to the video call. Several shadowy figures appeared on screen, their eyes glowing mysteriously, a skill Dib had yet to master.

“Have you come to report anything new Agent Mothman?” one figure who Dib recognized to be Agent Darkbootie, said. 

“I have been investigating a possible werewolf case actually,” Dib said. 

“And this is actually a werewolf and not just some hairy kid like last time?” another figure said.

“Yes- well actually I don’t know yet,” Dib said sheepishly. “I will have to do more investigating.”

The figure sighed. “Agent Darkbootie, I know you wanted someone to be able to investigate any paranormal activities at the skool but perhaps Agent Mothman is a bit uh, too young.”

“But I’ve been spending years researching the paranormal!” Dib begged. “I know everything about capturing ghosts and werewolves and vampires and vampire werewolf ghosts. I even caught this ghost bee here.” Dib lifted up an empty jar. He looked at it and quickly placed it down, his face flushed. “I might have forgotten that ghosts can phase through objects.” 

“Perhaps, Agent Mothman, if you can catch an alien then you might prove useful to the Swollen Eyeball Network. We have never had one of those and you did said you had expertise on aliens.”

Dib glanced at his alien hunting briefcase, his collection of books and files related to aliens, and his alien communicator. He turned towards his web camera and said confidently, “I can do that.”

“Don’t get too cocky,” Agent Darkbootie said. “You haven’t shown us anything yet. I want to support you, Agent Mothman, but we can't have any members that drag down the Swollen Eyeball Network's reputation. And I cannot fight for your position in the network if you don’t prove that you are worthy of calling yourself a paranormal investigator.”

Dib swallowed and nodded. The call ended and Dib leaned back in his chair, wondering if he made the right choice promising to capture an alien. He had seen everything from vampire bees to zombie pigs, but an alien? He admiringly never seen one of those. Perhaps they were busy ignoring his planet, feeling as if earth was so beneath them that it would be pointless to ever visit. 

Dib left his chair and picked up the alien communicator he had resting on his dresser. He struggled to hold the heavy and bulky machine as he left his room. He headed towards the stairs that lead to the roof and carried the alien communicator up each step. He stopped at each step to breathe, making the process all that much slower.

Gaz’s door swung open and she wandered over to the staircase where Dib stood, a Game Slave in her hands. She looked up at him, irritated.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to ‘talk to the aliens’ again, I bet there is nothing out there,” Gaz said.

“Come on Gaz, just think of the possibilities if I do find one,” Dib said. “All that advanced technology they could have and with an intellect even better than my own. I just want to know what’s out there beyond the stars.” 

“Just don’t do something stupid and embarrass dad,” Gaz said.

“More like impress dad when I finally prove to him that everything I’ve been talking about is real,” Dib said. 

Gaz sighed just before turning to leave. Dib pushed open the roof hatch and climbed out, struggling as he held the alien communicator. He placed the machine in front of him and grabbed his headset before sitting down. 

Dib slid the headset over his head and stared out at the night sky. He adjusted the knob but only static filled his ears. But Dib wasn’t willing to give up. He sat there for several moments, hoping he could pick up something, anything from out there in the vastness of space. And then, finally he heard them. He heard the aliens. If only he could understand them but the words Dib heard weren’t in any language he understood. He figured it must’ve been important and certainly nothing to do with something as mundane as for example, curly fries.

Dib tossed off the headset he wore and he ran down the stairs that lead to the roof. He rushed as quickly as he could, knowing that if there was one person he wanted to know about the existence of aliens more than anyone else it was his dad.

When Dib finally arrived in the kitchen, he looked up at Professor Membrane as he was making toast. He took a deep breath and explained how he heard them.

But his heart only sunk when his father shushed him and told him he was busy perfecting a superior method of making toast. Dib shrugged and headed towards his sister who also stood in the kitchen, certainly she would believe her but she only shrugged him off.

Dib sighed as he looked up at the night sky out of the window in the kitchen. He couldn’t really have expected things to go differently. This was just how things were and he was yet again alone in his interest of knowing what’s out there.

PRIOR

Zim stood in the long line of invaders, eagerly waiting for his turn to be congratulated on finishing invader training. He fumbled with his brand new invader uniform, still a bit crisp from being unworn.

Zim felt it had taken far too long for this day to come, for he was more than ready to become an invader. The training had been far too easy and he was certain he had excelled far better than the other irken elites. He felt quite proud as he remembered how just yesterday he built a contraption so powerful it injured several of his training mates. It had to be impressive that he was capable of causing so much harm. 

Zim noticed one of the future invaders in front of him was holding a plushie of what he recognized to be a Glorb. He looked skeptically at the invader. Weren’t they a bit too old for that sort of thing? 

One of the irken guards approached the invader and ripped the poor stuffed Glorb from his hands and carried it towards the airlock. The invader watched, tears in his eyes as the Glorb was forcibly ejected into the vast vacuum of space. 

Zim watched as the invader wail and cry over his precious lost plushie. Zim chuckled to himself. Certainly this invader would know that irkens were expected to abandon any toys by the time they entered training. Playtime was a distraction.

Eventually it was Zim’s turn and he excitedly ran towards the middle of the stage, standing proudly before his Tallests. Tallest Red sighed as he approached.

“How did you even make it to graduation, Zim?” Tallest Red said. “Shouldn’t you have been dead by now?”

“My Tallests, I have completed the required invader training,” Zim said obediently. “I am ready for Operation Doom I. What planet is worthy of Zim?”

“Do we really have to assign him a planet?” Tallest Purple whispered to Tallest Red.

“We can’t go against the Control Brains, he is an Invader after all.”

“Yes, but how? He’s defective.”

“Maybe we should assign him some far off planet, one that doesn’t matter as much.”

Tallest Purple scratched his chin and looked at the giant map of the galaxy behind him. A sticky note with a sketch of earth was attached to the far end of it. “Hmm, like earth perhaps?”

Tallest Red turned to Zim. “We’re going to assign you a planet far too dangerous for any other invader, just for you!”

“What is this mysterious planet?” Zim asked. “I must know!”

“You’re going to planet earth!” Tallest Purple said. “It’s uh, quite important and you mustn't fail, Zim.”

“Zim never fails!” Zim said as he stood up straight. “Now, for my invader issued SIR unit.”

“We really have to waste a SIR unit on Zim?” Tallest Purple said to Tallest Red.

“Perhaps we can give him one of the defective ones,” Tallest Red said before disappearing in a room behind the stage. The sound of metal clattering behind the door could be heard just before Tallest Red emerged with a rather busted looking SIR unit. He headed towards Zim and tossed it at him.

“It doesn’t seem to be working,” Zim said as he stared at the lifeless robot.

“Of course it works!” Tallest Purple said hesitantly as he took the SIR unit and hid it behind him as he opened the head. He looked confused before tossing trash into it before closing the lid. He threw it back towards Zim. 

The SIR unit awoke, its eyes oddly blue. Zim looked at the peculiar thing, wondering why the eyes weren’t red like the other SIR units he had seen and how it appeared to be a far older model than he had ever seen.

“I’m Gir, reporting for duty,” the SIR unit said.

“Gir?” Zim questioned. He had never known a SIR unit who had named themselves. 

“He is a special-issued SIR unit,” Tallest Purple said. “For your very important mission.”

“Of course, thank you my Tallest,” Zim said as he turned to leave. “Gir, come take me to my new ship.” 

The Tallest snickered as Zim left. Tallest Red turned to Tallest Purple and whispered, “How long do you think it’ll be before he messes up and we’ll have to send a new invader to that planet?”

“Two days, three at most,” Tallest Purple said with a chuckle.

When the other invaders finished getting their assignments Tallest Red stood proudly before the crowd of irkens and said, “And soon we will conquer the galaxy and perhaps the universe so that they will all serve the Irken Empire!”

“And I want to be served curly fries!” Tallest Purple said.

Zim arrived at the loading dock, his space suit equipped as he headed towards the long line of voot cruisers, each labeled with a different invader’s name. As Zim scanned them he noticed they were near identical, except for one which happened to be labeled with “INVADER ZIM”. He pondered for a moment, wondering why his was different but perhaps the Tallests decided to issue a special ship in addition to the special SIR unit since he was going on such a dangerous mission.

Zim pressed a button on the voot cruiser and the windshield lifted upwards. He sat in the pilot’s chair, excitement pounding through him at the thought of having his own ship. Gir sat beside him and Zim pressed a button, and closed the windshield. The other invaders entered their own ships and he noticed a few of them were snickering at his. Zim scoffed. It was simply jealousy, he figured, that they were not issued such a fine ship.

“Oh, what do these buttons do?” Gir asked as he leaned over to press a button. Zim pushed him away.

“Gir, obey your master and don’t touch anything,” Zim said. 

“Okeyyy!” Gir said as he leaned back. A minute later he proceeded to press a button anyway. Zim sighed as music played in the cockpit. He pressed the button and turned off the constant “doo-be-doo” that was playing. He wondered what was wrong with this “special issued” SIR unit the tallest had given him.

A moment later Zim and the other invaders flew out of the loading dock and towards space. Zim gazed out at the stars and wondered what earth would be like. He had traveled to many planets before during his invader training of course, but never one so far away. 

And perhaps the idea of arriving on a whole new planet where no one knew him felt rather appealing to Zim. He was tired of the other irkens never seeing his potential. He felt he was far more advanced in his scientific and engineering studies than the other irken elites but they always had to focus on how many people were harmed when he tested out his inventions. So what if he caused a few explosions, that just made his inventions look even more impressive!

But here was a chance for Zim to prove himself and he was confident that he could finish his mission before all the other invaders. Perhaps finally he could be recognized for the brilliant irken he was. 

Soon earth appeared into view, the giant blue ball growing larger as his ship approached the strange planet. Zim had never seen a planet with so much water and he wondered how there was even enough land for the earthlings to live on, unless perhaps they all lived in the ocean.

When a city came into view, Zim decided to land his ship in an alleyway between two buildings. He exited the ship and gazed out at the neighborhood. He twitched his antennae, smelling the air and looked disgusted when he realized it smelt worse than the air on the planet Garbagetopia. It was fairly quiet and all he could see was a strange fuzzy creature digging through rotten food in a large bin. Perhaps the main habitants were asleep, Zim figured.  
Zim turned to Gir and said, “Examine the planet. Who is the dominant species?”

Gir left momentarily and returned before saying, “The dominant species on planet earth are ‘humans’, master.” 

“Good work, Gir,” Zim said. “What do they look like?” Gir showed him a hologram of a human and Zim gazed at it, disgusted. “Oh, they look horrible! Perhaps I can get away with a minimal disguise so I don’t have to look like that.”

Zim and Gir spent the night setting up base and when morning came, Zim stood in his lawn, disguised as he watched the humans. Gir stood next to him wearing his green dog disguise. He noticed how all the children seemed to be accompanied by adults,   
parents perhaps. He had heard of other species having these “parents” though he never understood why they didn’t simply use cloning like irkens did. It seemed rather pathetic that other species relied so much on these “parents” for an irken was expected to be far more dependent once they were no longer toddlers.

A peculiar vehicle labeled “skool bus” approached his house and stopped for him. He noticed through the windows there were many children sitting inside the bus. He walked towards the door and stopped.

The skool bus driver turned to him and said, “Are you getting on, or what kid?”

“Where does this ‘skool bus’ take people?” Zim asked.

“To skool,” the skool bus driver replied.

Gir approached the skool bus but the driver stopped him and said, “Sorry kid, you can’t take your dog to skool.”

“Gir, watch the base while I’m gone,” Zim whispered to Gir. Gir nodded and left. 

Zim nervously walked up the steps. He wasn’t sure what a ‘skool’ was but if the other children were headed there then he must too in order to keep up appearances. And so Zim found an empty bus seat and rode off to skool.


	2. Invader Zim but Deeper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tension grows as Zim and Dib meet, Zim must complete his mission and Dib must expose him. But both of them are struggling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot to post this and sorry if it doesn't really flow well. I'm trying to summarize bc u all know what happens in Invader Zim.

Dib had never experienced a skool day as frustrating as he had that day. He couldn’t believe an actual alien had arrived in his classroom and yet no one believed it! He had remembered just how excited he felt at the thought that maybe for once he wouldn’t be the ‘crazy kid’ anymore, that maybe people could see just what he could but yet again it was too much to hope for.

But Dib wasn’t willing to give up, not yet. He was going to open the world’s eyes to the truth one day, no matter how much laughter he would have to receive first. And he was going to prove to the Swollen Eyeball Network that he did deserve to be a member despite his age.

Dib sat there at his desk taking notes on the alien he had seen earlier. He remembered how he had called himself Zim and that he carried around a strange device on his back. He wondered what it could possibly be for. He also seemed surprisingly unintelligent for an alien with access to technology he could only dream of but perhaps it was because he was still young like him.

But even if the other kids didn’t see Zim for the alien he was, they certainly did see him for the strange kid he was. They may have been willing to defend him in order to shame Dib, but it wasn’t long before the other kids remarked on Zim’s appearance and his behavioral oddities. Zim constantly raised his hand in class and stood on his desk just for him to get noticed and yet when it came to lunch he sat alone, unwilling to be near any of the other students. He almost felt bad for him until he remembered that he was an alien invader bent on destroying his home planet. 

Dib wanted to laugh too when he saw the other kids call him weird, a no-friend loser, ugly, broccoli head, bug-eyes, no-ears, and countless other insults but he couldn't. Because he knew the kids hurled insults towards him just the same. He lost count how many times the other kids mocked his large head (which he thought was rather normal sized) or call him the crazy kid. If he laughed at Zim for being bullied it would feel like laughing at himself as much as he hated the new kid.

Zim sat across of Gir at the kitchen table as he plopped down a pile of homework. He looked at it, curious as to why the humans assigned such mundane tasks to be done outside of skool hours. He never had “homework” as a part of his invader training.   
And yet, as frustrating as the amount of work Zim had been given to him at skool, he was still fascinated by the experience. The skool had touch on so many subjects he had never learned on Irk and it was harder to cause mass destruction while studying geometry. 

And how strange it was that they were not preparing them for galactic conquest but their own futures. And how bizarre it was that they had recess everyday and the earth children were allowed to play and with each other no less. Zim tried to remember the last time he had ever played and it was most certainly done alone. But the strangest thing of all, was their society depended on the expectation that children would one day reach adulthood. It was a luxury Zim had never even concidered. 

Several moments past as Zim sat there, trying his best on his homework in hopes that he could please Ms. Bitters. She was a bit terrifying, admittingly, but he wasn’t willing to miss a chance to impress his superiors, even if he planned on destroying them later.

Gir shoved a plate full of cookies into Zim’s face that looked and smelled suprisingly delicious. Gir smiled and said, “I made cookies master!”

“Not now Gir, I’m almost finished with this ‘homework’,” Zim said but Gir only shoved the plate full of cookies in his face harder. 

“Gir, the filthy earth food makes me sick, I do not want it,” Zim said though the smell and look of the cookies made him feel tempted. Gir looked sullenly at the floor and Zim finally gave in, and took a cookie. He bit into it, tasting the sweetness he enjoyed yet feeling there was something off about its taste. Zim shrugged, figuring it must be because it was earth food. He took a few more bites, but it wasn’t long before he started feeling naesea deep within his squeedlyspooch and immediately left in search of a bucket. 

But it would be more than just Gir’s cooking that Zim would have to get used to as the months passed. It seemed every day he learned something new about earth that made the planet all that much stranger. He found it peculiar how humans had families, friends, and even partners. What was the point of it all? But he had to fit in for he feared whatever horrible experimentation they would put him through if they found out he wasn't from earth. He had hoped he could’ve appeared more normal by befriending the strange red headed boy named Keef, but it was only a disaster. The kid wouldn’t leave him alone and somehow annoyed him even more than Dib did.

Perhaps it was only further proof that Zim didn’t need ‘friends’, only rivals, and he had the perfect one: Dib. He seemed to have a particular talent for getting on his nerves that no one else could. Dib knew of his fear of being exposed and would taunt him endlessly about it whenever it became a possibility, whether it was his lack of parents made him look suspicious or that if anyone looked inside him they would see his organs weren’t human.

And it seemed every time Zim sat down to plan some horrible doom to unleash on the human race, he couldn’t help but think of obnoxious, foul-smelling Dib. The human boy had an obsession with trying to expose him and seemed to have a general desire just to annoy him as much as he could. He took advantage of all his weaknesses whether it was taunting him with water, throwing bologna at him, making him eat beans, even going as far as throwing a muffin at his head. 

Zim was still unable to forgive Dib for the time he had abandoned him in his mind full of nightmares. And yet, why would he even consider forgiveness as a possibility? Why had he thought, for even the briefest of moments, that Dib would save him? 

But these feelings about Dib only grew stranger for Zim the longer he spent time on earth. He never spoke of it, but there were nights that Zim sat there in the bushes, looking into Dib’s window. It was simply for research purposes, he assured himself, and yet there was a curiosity he had about Dib and what it was like for him when he had a family. 

Zim knew that Gaz didn’t like Dib, for she always acted annoyed about everything he did, and yet she still had dinner with him and their dad, Professor Membrane, though it wasn't always the real Professor Membrane. Zim had once assumed all families must occassionally be joined by a tv monitor projecting their parent instead of their actual parent some nights. But then Zim had watched the other earthen families and noticed how the parents were far more present in their children's lives than Professor Membrane was in Dib's. And yet Dib seemed harldy bothered by that fact, or at least he seemed that way. 

Zim remembered how vortians had families when he worked with a few vortian scientists. He remembered how often the vortians had to tend to their families. It seemed like a waste to Zim, when they could be spending more time conducting military research, and yet-

There was a part of Zim that wondered what it would be like to have someone raise him. He couldn’t help but wonder as he stared into Dib’s window what it must be like to have a dad and a sister. He had Gir and later he would have minimoose of course, who he returned to everyday just like humans did to their own families. And perhaps, if irkens like himself were capable of it, he would love them as if they were family. At least, he didn't think irkens were capable of love.

Dib glanced out the window of his bedroom, thinking he saw Zim for a brief moment before the figure vanished. He shrugged, figuring it couldn’t be Zim because it was a school night. He was probably too busy doing his homework. Dib wondered why Zim bothered trying in skool at all. It wasn’t like he was a real student and he assumed Zim would return to his homeworld after destroying his planet.

Though Zim hardly made any sense to him. He had expected the invader to have spent far more time coming up with an evil plan than the few times he had. Instead, Zim either tried to compete with him or doing absolutely nothing productive. Dib remembered how often he had tried catching Zim doing some evil and alien-like only to find him playing video games for hours.

Dib tapped his fingers on his desk, terrified of making the video call to the Swollen Eyeball Network. His heart sunk knowing they would be disappointed in the fact he once again failed at capturing Zim or even finding any evidence to prove he was an alien. But he was certain the network had grown used to this. They expected him to fail and here he was, proving them right.

When the shadowy figures finally appeared on screen, their eyes mysteriously glowing, Dib nervously looked down, twiddling his thumbs. 

“You still haven’t captured him, have you?” one of the figures said.

“Not yet, but I will, I have come up with a fool proof plan that will lead Zim right to me!” Dib lied. Though perhaps it wasn’t a complete lie for he assured himself he would some day, or at least he hoped.

The figures collectively shook their heads in unison. Dib was quite perplexed how they managed to be so in sync. But their point was made, they were once again disappointed in him. And when the call finally ended after hearing of all the achievements the other members made, he sat there wondering what he was doing wrong.

Why was Zim so hard to capture? There was always something to prevent him from capturing any footage of Zim without his disguise despite the fact that he had seen Zim plenty of times without it. And Zim always seemed to slip his grasp any chance he had to finally trap him.

But even if he did succeed, Dib wondered, what would he do then? He looked at the endless files he had jammed in his drawers of all the paranormal creatures he wanted to capture. He wanted to feel motivated to capture Zim so he could resume his endless hunt of exposing the truth of everything else that was out there. And yet there was a certain thrill of chasing Zim he got that no other creature had given him. 

Zim stood there in front of the television as he waited for his Tallests to appear on screen. He waited and waited, static blaring from the screen, until it finally vanished and Tallest Red and Tallest Purple appeared, snacking on donuts as usual.

“You haven’t died from the mission yet?” Tallest Purple said. 

“Not that we were expecting you to have died,” Tallest Red said.

“No, I have successfully survived here living on this horrible planet,” Zim said. “For I am simply an amazing invader.”

“That’s disap- I mean good work, Zim,” Tallest Red said. 

“The mission has been going rather well, my Tallest,” Zim said. “I have come up with a brilliant plan to unleash giant squirrel bots to terrorize the humans.”

“Yes, yes, that’s good Zim, there is just one thing,” Tallest Red said. 

“Most of the other invaders have conquered their own planet and you’re very behind,” Tallest Purple said.

“Behind? But how could I be behind? I am Zim!”

“Well, if you don’t complete your mission in time we will have to send another invader to assist you,” Tallest Red said. 

“Zim needs no help! I will assure you I can complete my mission before the others finish!” Zim stood proudly but the Tallests only exchanged glances.

“Anyway, we have uh, other things to attend to, so we are going to have to end this call,” Tallest Red said before the transmission cut off.

Zim stared at the blank television, wondering how the other invaders could be so far ahead of him. He should be the one to lead, he should’ve been the first invader to complete his mission, but somehow Skoodge managed to be the first one, Skoodge of all irkens. And oh, how he envied the other invaders for doing so well when he had yet to finish his mission. How insulted Zim felt that they would send him an invader to help when he was perfectly capable on his own.


	3. Zim didn't deserve any of this

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An Invader has come to 'assist' Zim in his mission. But there is no way that could end well.

Zim was going to finally complete his mission and prove himself to the tallests. At least that is what he told himself several weeks ago before Operation Doom I came to a near close.

Zim laid on the couch next to Gir watching some mindless show about Floopsy when there was a knock at the door. Zim groaned and shouted at his computer to handle it. 

But a moment later the door burst open revealing an irken somewhat taller than Zim with purple eyes and dressed in a matching purple uniform. There was a fury in her eyes as she approached Zim and she tossed a bag full of various things at Zim.

“You ruined my initial chance of becoming an Invader and the only chance I have now is if I fix your stupid mission,” the irken said.

Zim turned towards the purple-eyed irken and said, “Who are you and why are you barging into my lair?”

“I’m Tak you idiot, the one whose chance of becoming an invader was ruined by you because you took out the power on Devatis, trapping me so I was unable to take the test to become an elite! But the Tallests have given me an opportunity that if I save your mission that I would be recognized as a proper invader.” 

“I don’t need your help, Tak,” Zim said as he waved his hand. “My mission is going rather well without any assistance.”

“You’re sitting there watching television.” Tak pointed to the screen. 

Zim turned to the television and quickly turned it off. “Eh, I was just doing research for my mission! I am studying the humans via watching their television shows.”

Tak rolled her eyes. “Do you even have anything planned for your mission?”

“Of course I do!” Zim turned to Gir. “Gir, fetch me my plans for my latest mission.” 

Gir nodded obediently and left. Zim and Tak stared at each other awkwardly for several moments before Gir returned with a stack of waffles, a pizza, and a pig.

“Gir, I told you to fetch you my plans!” Gir looked down momentarily at the waffles, pizza, and a pig as if he truly expected them to be apart of Zim’s plan. He left and returned with an opossum.

“Gir, my plans,” Zim said, annoyed.

“You don’t actually have any plans, do you?” Tak said. 

“Of course I have plans. I just uh-.”

“Stop with this pretending Zim.” Tak raised her fist. “Everyone knows you’re a horrible invader. That’s why you haven’t succeeded yet when everyone else has. If it weren’t for you we would’ve finished Operation Doom I by now!”

Anger filled Zim as Tak spoke those words. How dare she accuse him of being a horrible invader. And yet, there was a part of him that wondered what if he wasn’t as good of an invader as he thought. Why hadn’t he finished his mission by now? 

Tak reached into her PAK and pulled out a blueprint detailing her plans before shoving it in Zim’s face. 

“Since you’re apparently incompetent we’re going to follow my plans,” Tak said. “We’re going to hollow out the earth and replace it with snacks as an offering to the Tallests. And we’ll keep this operation secret by disguising it as another soulless major corporation selling hot dogs.”

“Blah, blah, I could come up with a better plan then that,” Zim said as his folded his arms.

“You don’t even have a plan.” Tak rolled up the blueprints and bopped Zim on the head with them. “Just take me to your lab.”

“Use your own lab. My lab is strictly-”

“Master’s lab is through the trash can in the kitchen!” Gir chimed in. Zim turned to Gir, annoyed. Tak pushed Zim aside before heading into the grime-stained kitchen. She lifted the trash can lid and struggled to fit inside. Of course she would struggle to fit,   
Zim thought, the trash can was designed for someone much shorter to keep others out of it. 

Zim groaned just before following Tak into his lair. Tak carelessly walking through the lab, ignoring any piece of equipment that fell after she bumped into it. She stood in front of Zim’s computer and placed the blueprint of her plan on the console in front of it.

“Computer only responds to me,” Zim pointed out. “You won’t be able to use him.” He stood there smugly.

Just then Tak pulled out a small device and placed it on the computer’s console. Wires emerged from the device and connected to the computer and the console. Zim looked in horror as he saw a purple irken symbol flash on screen and it spoke, “Hello Tak.”

“What have you done to Zim’s computer!” Zim shouted.

“Computer, please remove the intruder,” Tak said.

“Commencing ‘Remove Intruder’ protocol now!” the computer said. Metal claws descended from the ceiling and grabbed onto Zim’s legs and arms forcibly pulling him towards the elevator. Zim struggled as he tried to push against the metal claws that dug at   
his limbs, but no matter how hard he pulled, he couldn’t escape them.

“Computer, obey your real master!” Zim shouted. “Release me at once!”

“According to my data records Tak is now my master,” the computer replied. 

“No! I’m your master! Not Tak! Me! Zim!” But it was no use for Zim was already being forced into the elevator. The door slid closed and Zim banged on the glass, his screams muffled. The elevator swung him quickly upwards and the momentum swung him out of the trash can and across the kitchen. Just as Zim stood another metal arm descended from the ceiling and grabbed onto him before swinging him out of the door and onto the street. 

Pain stung through Zim as he landed against the cold concrete and he slowly stood up, sore from the impact. He clenched his fist and bared his teeth as he marched straight for his house. But when he approached his gnomes turned to him, eyes glowing red just before shooting lasers at him. Zim danced around him while the gnomes approached him. The gnomes continued to pursue him forcing him to move backwards until he was back at the street.

Zim sighed, knowing he would be unable to get into his house like this. He needed a plan but what could he do without his base? He was helpless and the only person who did have the proper equipment to help him…

No, he wouldn’t even think of it. Resorting to getting help from his nemesis was the same as admitting failure. But, Zim knew he might have not much choice, not if he wanted his base back. 

A moment later Gir flung out of the door and landed a few feet from Zim. Well, Zim figured, at least he had Gir even if he didn’t have his base. 

“Aw, how am I supposed to watch season 493 of Floopsy from out here?” Gir whined.

“Don’t worry Gir, we’ll get our home back and defeat the insufferable Tak,” Zim said as he raised his fist at the sky. “No one throws Zim out of his house!”

Dib leaned back on the red couch, Mysterious Mysteries playing, while his sister sat next to him, playing away on her Game Slave. It was the closest Dib could get to having Gaz do anything with him but at least it was something. 

“Turn the volume down, I’m trying to defeat the vampire piggies,” Gaz groaned.

“Come on Gaz, don’t you want to learn more about Squeedlyfoot?” Dib asked.

“No. You just want me to watch it with you because you can’t get any real friends so you just force me to be one because I’m your sister.” 

“Hey, I have-” Dib paused but then he remembered Gaz was right. He didn’t really have friends. 

Just then the door rang and Dib, raising an eyebrow, headed towards the front door. He opened it and wondered who could be visiting him. 

Zim and Gir stood there at his door, oddly undisguised. Zim frowned as he shoved Dib aside to enter his home.

“What are you doing here Zim?” Dib said. “Don’t you have some evil scheme to be carrying out or something?”

“I would be if someone hadn’t taken over my lab!”

“Someone took over your lab?”

Zim sighed. “Yes. Despite my brilliance I was sent a helper except this helper doesn’t understand the definition of helping! And she threw me out of my own home!”

“But why did you come here?” Dib asked. “I could expose you know.” 

“Then why haven’t you?” Zim asked.

“Uh, well, if you wait five minutes I can grab my stuff.”

“I came here because you’re the only one with the proper equipment to get my base back.” Zim pointed his finger at Dib and poked him. 

“And why do you think I’d let you in my dad’s lab? You're my enemy.”

“Yeah but we have a bigger threat Dib and her name is Tak. If you don’t help me she will destroy your planet!”

“Give me one reason to trust you and not think you just made that all up so you could get access to my dad’s lab.”

“Why would I risk exposing myself by walking around without a disguise?”

“Oh fair point. I’ll let you use the lab but I’m keeping an eye on you.”

Dib led Zim towards the basement door. Gir ran towards Gaz and climbed onto the couch. He peered at her Game Slave.

“Oooh watcha playing?” Gir asked. 

Gaz gritted her teeth and shoved Gir off the couch. But Gir climbed back on and continued gazing at Gaz’s screen.

“Fine, you can watch but don’t mess up my game,” Gaz said. 

“With the right equipment I can hack back into my base and reprogram it to make it mine again,” Zim explained as he stood there in Professor Membrane’s lab. “The Tak may have thought she won this time but soon I’ll teach her no one dare mess with Zim.”

“And nobody gets to destroy my planet!” Dib shouted.

“Except for Zim!” Zim finished as he raised his fist.

“Yeah, except for Zim- oh wait. That’s not right.”

“I will need some sort of device to connect your computer to mine but without a disguise it would be risky.” Zim placed a hand on his chin. “So you’re going to do it.”

“Me? Well I am pretty familiar with your defenses so I might be able to do it.”

Zim started to construct a strange device out of spare parts in the lab. When he was finished he handed it to Dib and said, “This should work.”

Dib eyed the device before turning towards Zim. “I can’t believe I’m trusting you not to destroy my father’s lab but if what you say about Tak destroying earth is true I have to do this.” Dib turned to leave, leaving Zim alone in the lab. Perhaps it should’ve been Zim telling Dib that he wasn’t sure why he was trusting him enough to carry out his plan to get his home back. He didn’t even have his disguise on and Dib had yet done nothing to attempt to expose him. But perhaps a bigger threat was just what was needed to have them working together.

Just then the sound of heavy boots could be heard from upstairs. Zim perked up and listened closely as the footsteps grew louder.

“How’s my daughter doing this fine day?” a voice, Professor Membrane’s voice as Zim recognized it to be, said. Zim’s eyes widened and he could sense his PAK was rushing to tell him that he was in danger. Gir was still upstairs and who knew if he was smart enough to keep cover.

“Good, dad,” Gaz replied.

“Where’s your brother?”

“Outside probably hunting ghosts or something.”

Professor Membrane sighed. “Ghosts again?” He paused. “And what’s this?” Oh no, Zim thought. “Did Dib build this? If only he would use his smarts for real science instead of fake science he could impress the entire scientific community.” Zim sighed in relief. At least he was on earth and not another planet that knew of aliens. Even a man as smart as Professor Membrane failed to see him for who he was.

“I will be in my lab if you need me,” Professor Membrane continued. Zim froze, infuriated that Dib never mentioned that his father was going to return home soon. He probably planned it, hoping his father would open his lab and find him undisguised. Zim had to hide and fast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tak really be out there being problematic smh.


	4. Love, Denial Edition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for leaving on a cliffhanger. Actually no I'm not. You need to suffer first before I let you have this pining content. I'm very evil.

Zim quickly hid behind a large machine in the lab, careful to not make a single noise. He clung to the machine, nausea building up inside of him as the nerves got to him. He peered around the corner and watched as Professor Membrane walked down the steps and into the main lab area. 

Zim swallowed hard and told himself no proper invader should be afraid of anything. This was nothing compared to what he faced in his training. He helped clean the pit of the Great Fanged Gwinglesmoops that definitely loved the taste of irken flesh before he could even read. He once had to fight against a Smeeple, that despite it’s cuteness carried a toxin powerful enough to kill a hundred irkens. 

And yet none of it mattered in this moment. All Zim could imagine was Professor Membrane standing there on a stage before all the humans showing him off, undisguised. Dib would be smiling, finally getting what he wanted all while Zim felt humiliated. He would become nothing more than a marvel to the humans, just something that they could poke and prod at without ever feeling remorse. And they say irkens are selfish. 

Zim hoped if it ever happened the one satisfaction he could receive was that Dib felt guilty. He knew Dib wanted more than anything for people to believe him and pretended he cared nothing about him. But if Dib didn’t care why did he give him so much attention when everyone else who hated him tried desperately to ignore him and wanted him gone? Dib never said anything about wanting him to return to Irk.

Dib returned holding a wireless device in one hand and an icecream cone in the other. He wasn’t certain how he had gotten the icecream cone but when he licked it, it tasted delicious nonetheless.

Gaz was still focused on her game just as had she been before Dib left and Gir still sat next to her watching whatever game she was playing. It was strange to see his sister so unbothered when she always seemed bothered by everyone else. Perhaps there was someone Gaz could get along with, but he never suspected someone as chaotic and uncontrollable as Gir would get along with someone as reserved and easily irritable as Gaz. 

“Dad’s home by the way,” Gaz said as she looked up from her Game Slave. 

“Wait dad is home and he didn’t notice Zim’s robot servant?”

“He thought you had made him.” Dib slapped his forehead. Of course his dad would find some non-paranormal explanation for this when he always did. No amount of hair he found from Bigfoot or ectoplasm he had found in haunted places had ever changed his father’s beliefs.

But then Dib remembered Zim was downstairs and for a moment he panicked. But why, Dib wondered, would he be panicked about his father finding out about Zim when this was exactly what he longed for. His mission was to capture Zim and expose him and here he had the opportunity and it wasn’t like he cared about Zim…right?

Dib gave the icecream cone to Gir just before quickly dashing towards the door of the lab. He opened it and took a step inside. He looked at his father who was standing in the lab pouring some strange liquid into a beaker. It didn’t seem like his father had seen Zim.

“Uh, hi dad,” Dib said as he walked down the steps.

“Hi son, have you finally come to join me to do real science?” his dad asked excitedly.

“Uh no dad.” He could see the disappointment in his dad's face despite the fact that half of it was covered. “I was just wondering if you seen Zim at all.” 

“No, I have not seen your little green friend. Should have I?”

“He’s not my-.” Dib stopped myself. “Well, nevermind then I guess if you haven’t seen him.” Dib looked over and saw Zim’s fingers pointing out from behind a machine. Dib headed towards where Zim was and snuck behind the machine.

“Zim?” Dib asked as he looked at Zim, crouched against the wall.

“Silence Dib,” Zim whispered. “You may think you have won by knowing your father would come home precisely-”

“Actually I had no idea,” Dib said as he lowered his voice. “It would’ve been a good plan though. Wish I thought of that.” 

“You have me exposed and you will never get my help to save your world from Tak.” 

Dib sighed. Was he truly going to give up this one perfect opportunity he had to expose Zim? All he needed was to call over his father and it would be over. His dad could deny him no longer. The swollen eyeball network would finally respect him for the great paranormal investigator he was but far more than that his father would finally see the truth and believe him. But Zim was right, if he did choose to expose him now he might not be able to save his planet alone. It wouldn't matter that he was able to expose Zim if the earth was destroyed.

“Wait here,” Dib said before turning to leave. 

“You better not-” Dib left to grab the emergency blanket from the wall and placed it around Zim, obscuring him. 

“Now you can leave the lab without him seeing you.” 

“But how will I see Dib? You covered my eyes.”

Dib sighed, wondering why he was even considering what he was going to do next. But if he was ever going to help Zim leave the lab he would have to. And so Dib reached out his hand and held onto Zim’s. Dib led Zim out of the lab, the blanket still covering his face. He looked over at his dad who was busy pipetting liquid into a tray. It would be just like his father to ignore him when he got deep into doing science.

There was a strange feeling that filled Dib as he led Zim through the lab and up the steps. He looked down at his hand wrapped around Zim’s, as if there was a part of him, deep down, that actually enjoyed this. He felt himself grow warm and his face felt flushed the longer he held Zim’s hand. Dib brushed it off, figuring it must just be that he was embarrassed, that was all. He was simply experiencing normal feelings anyone would have holding their enemy’s hand.

Dib and Zim finally emerged from the basement lab and Zim removed the blanket. Gaz looked at Dib and smirked. Dib raised an eyebrow in response.

“Why were you holding Zim’s hand, huh?” Gaz asked.

“I wasn’t- okay maybe I was but it was just so I could make sure he didn’t bump into walls,” Dib explained.

“Uh huh. I knew there was a reason you wouldn’t shut up about him.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Dib’s face had turned bright red. Did Gaz really think he liked Zim? He didn’t even know if he liked boys and he certainly didn’t like someone as hideous and evil as Zim. He was his enemy, not his friend and certainly not his crush. And yet if that was true why did he feel so embarrassed about it?

“Oooh master, you’re blushing!” Gir said. “You got a crush on Dib?”

Dib turned towards Zim who had turned a pinkish green. “What?” Zim said. “No! I feel nothing for the Dib-stink! I hated holding his filthy hand.” Zim turned away. 

“I uh, suppose my dad will probably be using the lab for a while and I have to sleep eventually,” Dib said. “We’ll solve this tomorrow.”

“I’m still undisguised Dib and have no home, I will have to stay here,” Zim said. 

“Oooh a sleepover!” Gir said. “I will go make popcorn!” 

“We don’t need popcorn, Gir,” Zim replied.

“We’re not having a sleepover!” Dib objected. “A sleepover is between friends and we’re not friends. I hate Zim and his stupid green head.”

“He’s right, we hate each other,” Zim said. 

Gaz chuckled. “Figures you two morons would fall for each other.” Dib didn’t bother to argue and decided to lead Zim upstairs towards his room. Zim signaled for Gir to follow.

“Aw come on, she’s about to defeat the vampire piggy lord,” Gir complained.

“You can watch Dib’s scary sister defeat the vampire piggy lord tomorrow,” Zim said.

“Okeeey,” Gir said as he turned to follow Zim and Dib up the steps and towards Dib’s room. Dib stopped just before his door and turned towards Zim and Gir. 

“Don’t mess with anything,” Dib said as he pushed open the door and led them inside. He headed towards his dresser. “Uh, do you need anything? Do irkens even sleep or brush their teeth?”

“Unlike you inferior human worms, irkens do not sleep,” Zim said smugly.

“Yes you do!” Gir said. “I’ve seen you sleep when your PAK’s battery gets low. And you haven’t eaten in a while to recharge.”

“Shut up Gir,” Zim said.

Dib tossed Zim a pair of ufo PJs, a sleeping bag, and a toothbrush. Zim begrudgingly took them. Dib grabbed his own pair of identical PJs. Dib sighed, if only he came from a universe that didn’t wear the same exact clothes everyday so he didn’t have to match   
with Zim.

“The bathroom is on the left,” Dib said. Zim placed his sleeping bag on the floor and turned to leave.

“You’re filthy spit better not be on this toothbrush, Dib-stink,” Zim said as he waved the toothbrush.

“It’s clean Zim!” 

Zim stood there, standing on the foot stool, and looked up at the mirror. He was dressed in the PJs Dib had given them. What was it that he was feeling, he didn’t know. He wasn’t quite sure what Gaz was implying but when Gir had asked if he had a crush on Dib, he felt horrified but he couldn't stop thinking about it. He barely understood crushes and love but it was something that other species experienced while irkens experienced none of it. And yet there was something in the way Dib held his hand that made his squeedlyspooch flutter. 

It was all too confusing to Zim. There had to be another reason, any reason at all, that he was experiencing these feelings when he was around Dib. He didn’t feel love, he didn’t feel love, _he didn’t feel love_. Zim repeated the phrase over and over in his head as if the more he said it the more it would become true. Only a defective could be capable of love and he wasn’t a defective, or at least he didn’t want to be.

Later that night, Zim was curled up in his sleeping bag and Dib reached to turn out the light. Zim looked up at him and said, “Leave the light on, Dib-stink.”

“Leave it on?” Dib questioned. “I can’t sleep if the light is on!”

“But I can’t sleep with it off!” Zim exclaimed.

“Why can’t you sleep with it on?” Dib asked. “Irkens can’t be nocturnal if you only sleep when your PAK is low which could happen at any time.”

“Do not question me. Just leave it on.”

“Why? Don’t tell me you’re afraid of the dark or something.”

“Zim isn’t afraid of the dark!” There was hesitation in his voice.

Dib sighed and headed towards his dresser. He reached down in the bottom drawer and pulled out a night light in the shape of Mothman. He plugged it in the wall socket and went to turn off the light. 

“Now we both can be happy,” Dib said as he crawled into bed. “Zim, when this is all over we will return to the enemies we once were, right?”

“Of course, Dib, why would it be any different?”

“No reason. Hey uh, Zim-” But Zim had already dozed off to sleep. Dib sighed and tried to sleep himself but there were far too many thoughts running through his head. He didn’t really have a crush on Zim, did he? He never really had a crush before, so he   
didn’t really know what it was like. But he was feeling something and he hoped it was just the normal nerves one experienced when they were around someone they hated. He just felt embarrassed by having to touch his enemy, that had to be it. 

He was only obsessed with him because he needed to stop him, not because the thought of him brought him joy and made him wish they could watch mysterious mysteries together and he could talk about paranormal science to him for hours while Dib stimmed with excitement and kiss him while they watched the stars and get a huge stick of cotton candy just for the two of them and be able to look at his cute face and call him his boyfriend and - Dib stopped himself. He was just feeling confused, that was all. Zim was still his enemy and nothing would change that, even if there was a part of him that secretly wished it would.


	5. He Cares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what to put for a summary but he cares.

The morning came, and Dib had finally awoken. He turned in his bed and was startled upon seeing Zim still lying in his sleeping bag. He had forgotten that he let him stay the night and it felt so strange having his nemesis in his house. Zim looked oddly peaceful for a space alien bent on destroying his world while he slept.

Dib strolled over to where Zim slept and poked him. When Zim failed to awake Dib poked him harder and harder until finally Zim opened his eyes. Zim looked up at Dib rather shocked.

“You captured me?” Zim asked as he looked around the room. “But how?”

“Zim, you came here last night because Tak took over your base,” Dib explained. 

“Oh, yes, Zim never forgets anything.” Zim straightened himself. “Now to your father’s lab so that we may hack back into my base.” Zim stood up and held his head. “What is the reasoning for this lightheadedness I feel?”

“Master must be hungry,” Gir said as he leapt towards Zim. 

“What do irkens even eat?” Dib asked.

“None of your disgusting human food,” Zim said. “I will have to wait until later.”

“You have to have something,” Dib complained. “Who knows when we will be able to get your base back.”

“Why do you care for Zim, Dib-stink?”

“I-,” Dib stopped himself. Well, if Zim didn’t eat he wouldn’t be very useful carrying out the mission, that was true. It had to be just that, he assured himself, though perhaps a part of him knew it was more than that. “I want you to have something so you can function enough to hack back into your base.”

Zim stared at him for a while and his squeedlyspooch growled. “Fine, perhaps there might be something that isn’t revolting that I can have.”

“I’ll go get us both something,” Dib said as he headed towards the door. “Once my dad has left we can continue working in his lab.” 

“Just get me whatever sugary snack you have, Dib,” Zim said. Dib nodded just before leaving. 

When Dib arrived in the kitchen he saw Gaz sitting at the kitchen table and his dad standing next to Foodio. He ignored them as he headed towards the cabinets and opened them. Sugary snacks was what Zim wanted which there would be no short supply of in his house, not when both him and Gaz were still kids who very much craved sugary snacks.

“Aren’t you going to eat your delicious breakfast?” Professor Membrane asked as he looked at Dib.

“Uh, I’m actually feeling a little sick,” Dib said as he scooped up several boxes of rice cereal treats that proudly claimed that they had thirty percent less sawdust into his arms.

“Is something the matter son?” Professor Membrane glanced at the boxes of rice cereal treats.

“Uh, I just been having a real craving for these,” Dib said as he stuck his hand in one of the boxes and stuck one of the treats in his mouth. He started to gag when he quickly realized he never removed the wrapper.

“I thought you said you were sick,” Gaz pointed out.

“It’s uh, strange virus, only makes me ill when I eat anything but rice cereal treats,” Dib explained. “Well uh, I better get to my room.” Dib quickly turned away from the kitchen but his father stood in his path.

“You know you can tell me anything son,” Professor Membrane said as he patted Dib’s shoulder. “I’ve supported you when you wanted me to call you son and I would support you no matter how you feel about that little green boy.”

“What?” Dib turned towards his dad. “You support me in my hatred of Zim?”

“I know it can be confusing having your first crush.” Professor Membrane kneeled beside Dib. 

“Why do you think I have a crush on Zim?” Dib noticed Gaz smirking from the corner of his eye. “Ugh, Gaz, you told dad?”

“It’s okay son if you like boys,” Professor Membrane said.

“I don’t- or maybe I do I don’t know, but I definitely don’t like Zim!” Dib whined. “Why does everyone think I actually like Zim! I don’t understand. I hate him! I hate him! I hate him more than anyone and I will never like him!” 

“Dib, your face is bright red,” Gaz said.

Dib groaned and turned to leave. He headed towards his room, carrying the many boxes of rice cereal treats. He hated Zim yet he was still getting him food. He hated Zim but he still felt a certain rush every time he looked at him. He hated Zim but he still somehow cared about him. He was supposed to have a meeting with the Swollen Eyeball Network soon and what was he supposed to say? That he accidentally fell in love with the alien he was supposed to capture?

And even if Dib had feelings for Zim, would Zim ever feel the same way? Could Zim even feel the same way? He imagined himself standing before Zim, admitting that he had feelings only to be met with Zim’s laughter. He could hear him saying, “You, my enemy, in love with me? You really are crazy, Dib.”

“But do you feel anything for me?” Dib imagined him asking.

“I could never love anyone, Dib, I’m incapable of it,” he imagined Zim replying. “And I will never love you.” And Zim saying those words, Dib knew, would hurt him far more than anything he ever put him through, and Zim had put him through a lot.

Zim waited from inside of Dib’s room when just then he saw the door pushed open and Dib on the other side. Dib approached him and placed the boxes of rice cereal treats in front of him. Dib really did care enough to get him food and it felt strange. No one, well besides Gir sometimes and minimoose, had ever done anything for him. 

“I suppose I should thank you for getting me these uh, earth snacks,” Zim said as he reached into one of the boxes and unwrapped one of the treats. He examined the strange snack, held together with marshmallow and decorated with sprinkles. He held it close to him and it smelt rather sweet. He took a bite nervously and to his surprise it was quite delicious despite the fact there was a faint hint of sawdust.

Dib peaked his head through the door and turned back towards Zim. “I think my dad is just about to leave.” He waited for several moments. “Alright, he’s leaving now. Let’s get you your lab back.”

“Aren’t you going to have breakfast too?” Zim asked as he unwrapped another package.

Dib turned towards Zim and grabbed one of the treats. “I suppose I should...hey wait a minute. Why do you care if I have breakfast?”

“Silence, I said nothing,” Zim said. 

“But you just did say something.”

“As soon as I get my base back and we stop Tak from destroying your world I’m going to destroy you and your planet too.” Zim pushed Dib aside.

“Uh, Zim-,” Dib said looking at Zim oddly.

“What is it, Dib-stink?” Zim said as he turned towards Dib.

“It’s nothing,” Dib said as he looked away. Nothing? It had to be something but what Dib didn’t want to tell Zim, he didn’t know. 

A moment later, Dib and Zim stood in Membrane’s lab once again. Zim watched as Dib plugged in the device with an irken symbol into the main computer and a loading screen appeared with the words “CONNECTING TO IRKEN BASE”. Zim waited anxiously knowing with only a few lines of code he could take back his base.

Zim and Dib waited, and waited, and waited, the loading bar slowly inching forward. First it was ten percent then it was thirty percent then it was 35 plus the square root of four divided by 20 times minus negative 5000 times the temperature of the sun in celsius divided by the number of children Gir has consumed.

Soon the loading bar had nearly reached the end. It reached 99.999999 percent loaded when just then…

Tak appeared on screen grinning wickedly as she spoke. “It’s too late Zim. I have taken over your base and you’re never going to get it back. I have already begun to carry out my plan to destroy the earth and in just one hour the magma from the earth’s core will be replaced with delicious snacks for the Tallests. And you will be unable to stop me, Zim, and uh whoever the large headed boy is.”

“It’s Dib and my head is rather normal sized!” Dib objected. 

“You will pay for taking over my base, Tak, I have come up with a rather brilliant plan to stop you!” Zim said.

“And what is this brilliant plan, Zim?” Tak asked as she put a hand on her hip. “You’re a moron Zim. The earth will be long destroyed before you ever figure out that I’ve been hiding under the disguise of a hot dog mega corporation to carry out my plan.”

“Then why did you tell us you were under the disguise of a hot dog mega corporation?” Dib asked.

“Shit,” Tak said before pressing a button, ending the call.

“Now all we have to do is find a hot dog mega corporation,” Dib said. “Shouldn’t be too hard to find. Come on Zim.” Dib reached out his hand but quickly stopped himself before pulling his hand away. He turned a bit pink before turning away. Zim looked at him, wondering why Dib had started to act so strangely around him, but humans always acted strange. 

Zim followed Dib out of the lab. All he needed to do was defeat Tak and the mission would all be his and so would his home. He had spent far too long around Dib. It always made him feel things he didn’t understand and he hated it, well perhaps he didn’t completely hate it.


	6. Jhonen has no rights anymore they gay now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is the final chapter everyone! I got another fic idea I want to work on.

Zim and Dib stood in front of the rather large window-less tower in the middle of the city. A giant hotdog and the words “WEINER CO.” floated above the tower. The smell of processed pork meat wafted through the air. 

“We’ll have to scale the tower,” Dib said as he strapped himself in a harness. "I think I see a few vents we can enter." Zim grabbed onto Gir, letting the robot bring him into the air. Dib groaned as he watched Zim ascend in the air much faster than he could possibly climb. Dib threw the hook up into the air and it caught on a piece of metal that stuck out and he began to climb upwards.

Zim waited several moments for Dib to finally reach one of the vents and popped it open just long enough for them both to hop inside. Zim, Dib, and Gir all climbed inside and headed through the maze of the vent system. Eventually they heard a voice from below.

“That sounds like Tak,” Zim said in a whisper.

“The Control Brains should’ve given me another chance at the test,” Tak complained. “They let Zim become an invader after all his destructive behavior but they couldn’t let me be one?” Tak groaned. “But I can’t question the Control Brains judgement. I just don’t understand it, Mimi.”

Dib and Zim continued to climb through the cramped vent and Tak said from below, “What is wrong with these vents? There is so much noise coming from them. Mimi, go examine them.”

Dib quickly stopped in the middle of the vent and Zim knocked into him from behind. Gir jumped on top of them both and the sound of metal bending could be heard from below them. They exchanged glances just before the vent snapped. Zim and Dib fell several feet and landed directly onto Tak. Tak pushed them off and glared at them annoyingly.

“It appears you aren’t as dumb as I thought you were Zim,” Tak said. “You finally figured out I’d be here. Doesn’t matter when it’s already too late. You see…” Tak pointed to a large glass tube that extended towards the ceiling. The base was made of metal and a big red button labeled “PRESS FOR MASS DESTRUCTION” was in the center of it. Below the red button was a blue button labeled “PRESS FOR SNACKS”.

“As soon as I press this button,” Tak said as she hovered a finger over the button. “The earth’s magma will be sucked out of its core.” Tak lowered her finger over the button below. “And this one is for when the earth is sucked dry and I can fill it with all of the Tallests' snacks. In just a few moments I will be the one knowing for destroying the earth while you remain forgettable as usual.” Tak pointed at Zim.

“I will never let you have my mission, Tak,” Zim said. “The Tallests were mistaken to think I couldn’t finish this mission on my own.”

“Everyone has successfully finished theirs except you, Zim,” Tak said as she took a step closer. “Admit it Zim, you’re the worst invader. The Tallests don’t even like you.” 

“How could the Tallests not love me when I’m so brilliant?” Zim said, though he wasn’t confident in his words. 

“Certainly even someone as dumb as you doesn’t believe that.” Tak rolled her eyes. “You’ve never noticed how your SIR unit is dysfunctional compared to the others? I’ve never once heard the Tallests talk positively about you.”

“You lie.” And yet he knew it was true that the Tallests always seem to wish he wasn’t there during his training. He remembered how every disaster he created lead the future Tallests pointing directly at him so that he could be the one punished. There had even been a few times it wasn’t even his fault and yet the trainers looked at the future Tallests pointing directly at him and the trainers believed them, because of course, everything that went wrong must’ve been Zim's fault.

But Zim wasn’t going to let Tak remind him of that. Tak leaned over the machine and raised the palm of her hand just above the red button. Tak lowered her palm when just then Zim lept from where he stood and grabbed onto Tak pulling her away.

“Help me, Dib-stink,” Zim said as he turned to Dib who remained standing there.

“Oh right,” Dib said before heading towards the machine and stared at it for several moments. “Doesn’t seem to be an off switch.”

“Destroy it somehow!” Zim said as he struggled to restrain Tak, his legs kicking and his arms wrapped around her neck.

“Get off of me you moron!” Tak said as she grabbed onto Zim’s arm. “Just let me have the mission! I’ll even let you leave the planet in time! Just let me go!”

“Uh, um,” Dib said frantically searching the machine up and down.

“Just do something!” Zim shouted. “I can’t hold her forever.”

“I can’t work under pressure! Uh, fine I’ll try this.” Dib said as he slammed the palm of his hand against the blue button labeled “PRESS FOR SNACKS”. 

“No!” Tak shouted. “Without the earth hollowed out first there won’t be any room for the snacks! You're going to destroy this place!” 

An avalanche of snacks inside the machine fell from above and began to pile inside. They quickly stacked higher and higher until the entire glass tube was filled with them. The glass began to shatter as the pressure from the high volume of snacks continued to increase.

Zim let go of Tak and immediately reached for Dib just as the glass broke and a pile of snacks flooded out. Zim released his spider legs and pushed Dib out of the way just before he was crushed by the sheer mass of all the snacks.

“You saved me, your nemesis?” Dib said.

“Shut up, we have to get out of here,” Zim said as he took Dib’s hand and they quickly ran towards a door labeled “USE ONLY IN THE CASE OF BEING CRUSHED BY AN AVALANCHE MADE PURELY OUT OF SNACKS EMERGENCIES”. 

“That’s uh, a rather oddly specific emergency exit,” Dib noted. 

Zim turned to face behind him and he noticed the avalanche of snacks slowly gaining speed. Zim and Dib ran faster and faster, the snacks only mere inches away from them. Dib pushed open the door and Zim slammed it shut behind them. 

“No one steals Zim’s mission!” Zim yelled back. 

“Do you think we killed her?” Dib said.

“Nah, I’m sure she’s fine,” Zim said as he turned to face Dib.

“You do know you’re still holding my hand?” Dib asked. Zim looked down and noticed Dib was right, his fingers were still wrapped around his. Zim quickly pulled his hand away but just then Dib reached up to grab it back.

“What are you doing, Dib-stink?” Zim asked. Dib flushed red just before looking away. 

Dib nervously laughed. “How did that happen,” Dib said as he released his hand from Zim’s. “I just uh, I thought, well, never mind.”

Zim wrapped his fingers around Dib’s and looked at him. “I must admit it is pleasurable to hold the Dib-stink’s hand.” Zim shrugged.

“Huh?” Dib said as his entire face turned an even brighter red. “You enjoy this too?” Dib paused. “Are we still enemies?” Zim looked away. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling but he was certainly feeling something the longer he held Dib’s hand.

“We will always be enemies, Dib-stink,” Zim said.

“If we’re enemies then why are you holding my hand? Do we hate each other or love each other?”

Zim groaned. A part of him told him that irkens don’t love, it wasn’t possible. And yet here he was, feeling an emotion that felt a lot like love towards someone he least expected to love. But if he loved Dib did that mean Dib couldn’t keep stopping his plans? Did it mean they had to stop their rivalry when Dib was the first person he felt could be a worthy equal?

“Perhaps you can both be my enemy and my love pig, Dib,” Zim said.

“We can’t be both enemies and boyfriends,” Dib said. 

“Why not?”

“Because, well, I guess maybe we can. But no taking over the world while I’m watching Mysterious Mysteries and you have to watch it with me.” Dib looked at him sternly.

“Deal. And you have to play video games with me because I can’t with Gir. He always slobbers over the controllers.” Zim shot him the same stare back.

“Deal and maybe I will enjoy playing video games because I enjoy spending time with you even if you are evil and an alien.” Dib balled his fists. 

“And maybe I will enjoy watching Mysterious Mysteries because you clearly enjoy it you big headed boy.” Zim frowned.

“And maybe I really want to kiss your weird green head because I love you.”

“And maybe I love you too.”

And so Zim leaned in and kissed Dib. It felt warm and sweet, both unexpected and yet very much expected. It was like two magnets who were kept forcibly apart, and what kept them apart was fear, fear of admitting they loved each other when they felt they shouldn't, but as soon the barrier was gone they were clinging to each other as if it was always meant to be this way. 

“You know, I was supposed to capture you, but the Swollen Eyeball Network probably still wouldn’t respect me no matter what I did,” Dib said. “I rather just have you.” Dib blushed. “You're my first kiss, Zim, and my first boyfriend.”

“You human worms are rather revolting but perhaps I enjoyed having our ‘first kiss’,” Zim said. 

“Never expected I would ever kiss an alien, but, I did too,” Dib said.

A while later Gaz stopped as a flood of snacks bursted through the wall of Tak’s tower and stopped right before her. Gaz turned and noticed an irken’s head pop out of the pile of snacks.

“Ugh, don’t tell me you’re working with that weird kid Dib is obsessed with,” Gaz said as she stared down at Tak. “Who are you, anyway?”

“It’s Tak,” the irken said as she pressed a button that disguised herself. “And if you see anyone named Zim tell him I hate him.”

“I don’t like him either,” Gaz said, rolling her eyes. “I don’t trust anyone who can tolerate my brother, Dib.”

“I should really destroy you before you go and expose me,” Tak said.

“Believe me, I don’t care about exposing any aliens. That’s my brother’s job.” 

“I know we just met but I’m already starting to like you. What’s your name?”

“Gaz.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have read all the comments you have left and it has made my heart very warm. And thanks to everyone who gave this a read.


End file.
